I met Mike about 0730 at Gathland State Park. It was a little colder that I expected, but I was warm enough in my jacket. We left Mike’s truck at the park, then drove my car to the crossing of the AT and US Route 40 to start the hike. It stayed a little chilly and cloudy for the first few hours of the hike, but the clouds slowly lifted and it turned into a lovely, warm day.
The AT in Maryland goes through several significant Civil War battlefields, through the grounds of the original Washington Monument, and past lots of historical markers and informational plaques. We kept a casual pace and spoke to the various people we encountered (including a young thru-hiker who was already past the halfway point of his hike).
We got back to Crampton Gap a little later than we expected (about 1600), and the route turned out to be about a mile longer than we thought (13 miles rather than 12).
We drove from Crampton Gap to Harper’s Ferry where we checked out our steps project (constructed circa 2007). The steps looked great for their age, but a few of the approximately 120 slabs could’ve used a touchup.
After the Harper’s Ferry visit we drove to Charles Town to have dinner at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant where we took StinkFoot during the “Mather Steps Project”.
I got home around 2030 (pretty sore after my first hike in months).
